Sister Marie Rose, 79, speaks to members of her church at the hospital. Sister Julianna Lim, 69, remains in a coma. Photo: The Star
The two elderly nuns who were attacked outside the Church of the Visitation in Seremban on Wednesday morning did not even have anything to hide from their robbers – between the two of them, the nuns had less than RM20.
Sister Julianna Lim, 69, now in a coma after the attack, had less than RM10 on her person at the time of the attack. Sister Marie Rose alias Theresa Teng, 79, similarly had just a few ringgit in her handbag.
Police have ruled out the possibility of the attack being a hate crime, and are now investigating the case as one of “voluntarily causing injury during a robbery”.
Neither of the two Roman Catholic nuns were wearing their formal habits at the time of the attack.
Apart from the meagre amount of cash, the nuns also carried with them a few articles of faith, including rosaries, prayer books and a pocket Bible. Negeri Sembilan state police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Osman Salleh added they were also carrying the keys of the car they drove to the church in, and a mobile phone.
“We managed to record a statement from Marie Rose and she said that a man wearing a full-faced helmet had struck her first with a helmet.
“This prompted Lim to scream, causing the attacker to lunge at her and pound her repeatedly with the helmet,” he said, as reported by The Star Online.
A church caretaker found Lim and Marie Rose both bleeding and sprawled at the entrance to the church.
Osman expressed hope that Lim would recover soon and shed some light on the attack as she was the one who saw the suspect hitting Marie Rose first.
“Marie Rose can’t remember much of the incident as she was hit from the side. All she could tell us was that the lone attacker wore a full-faced helmet, and was slim and about five feet, seven inches tall,” he said.
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Two elderly Catholic nuns attacked outside church in Seremban
